Make a vision board for the year

A vision board is a collage of pictures and words that feel like the year you want. It is not a prediction, and it isn’t a to-do list. It is a way to work out what you want more of by looking through a pile of images and seeing which ones you can’t put down. Here is how to make a vision board in an evening for under $20.

Choose a time

Pick an evening when you won’t be interrupted. The end of December and the first weeks of January are popular because the year is fresh, but any quiet evening works. Give yourself about two hours. If it’s a gift for yourself, switch your phone off and let that be the point.

Gather your materials

Beyond the scissors, glue stick and board on your list, you’ll want:

• Old magazines, catalogues or travel brochures. Ask friends and family, or look for free ones at a library or a charity shop.
• Printed photos, if you prefer, or pictures from your own phone
• A marker or pen for writing words
• Washi tape or double-sided tape, if you’d like to move things around later
• A trash bag, since the cutting makes a mess

If you want a digital board, you can collect images on your phone instead. A physical one is easier to hang and tends to feel more personal.

How to make it

1. Start with a question. What do you want more of this year? Rest, travel, a creative habit, friends, a new place. Write two or three words on a note and put it nearby.
2. Flip through first. Go through the magazines without cutting. Fold the corners of pages that catch your eye.
3. Cut out more than you need. Pull out images, words and colours that make you pause. Don’t overthink it: you’ll edit later.
4. Sort into piles. Group them by theme, such as places, habits and feelings. Put aside anything that doesn’t fit.
5. Lay it out on the board before gluing. Arrange the pieces until it looks right. Overlap some, leave a little gap for others.
6. Glue it down. Use a glue stick so the paper stays flat. Press each piece from the middle outwards.
7. Add words by hand. Write a couple of short phrases directly on the board, or glue down cut-out words.

Make it honest

• Pick images that mean something to you, not ones you think you should want.
• Choose some things that are small and real, like a walk every morning or a weekly dinner with friends, not only big goals.
• It’s fine to leave white space. A board doesn’t have to be full.
• Include at least one thing that’s simply for joy.

What goes wrong

• You run out of images. Print a few pictures at home, or use postcards and wrapping paper.
• It looks messy. That’s fine. It’s yours, not a poster for sale.
• You can’t decide what you want. Start with how you want to feel, such as calm, curious or brave, and look for pictures that match that.
• The board is too big to hang. Use a smaller board, or cut it down. A corkboard lets you swap pieces.
• You feel pressure. Remember that a board is a prompt. Nothing on it is a promise.

After you’ve made it

Hang it where you’ll see it every day: by your desk, on the back of a door or beside the mirror. Look at it for a minute each week. In the spring, ask yourself which parts you’ve moved towards, and which you’d swap out. At the end of the year, take a photo of it, and start a new one.

Other ways to make one

If you’d rather not cut up magazines, there are other routes. Print photos from your own camera roll. Draw or paint small pictures yourself. Use a page in a notebook instead of a board, and add a new page each season. A small board you can carry in a bag is as good as a large one on a wall. The best format is the one you’ll actually look at.

Make it a winter evening

Light a candle you can keep an eye on, make something warm to drink and put on a long playlist so the evening runs slow. If you like the idea of a quieter version, choose a word for the year in ten minutes, or pick your word first and let it guide which pictures you keep.